Archive for April 18th, 2017

And once again that pep talk about France. The sun tried to come up today but was up and down with temps in the 15C or about 62F. We have a nice four day week and then its the weekend again ,and my trip to Spain !!!

For now let’s keep cool in la belle France shall we:

Flixbus , bus service intercity is offering the La Défense. From May 18 it will serve the business district from the underground bus terminal of terminal Jules-Verne on the line N 709 that will be extended to Rouen. This night line will have daily connections towards Lyon with a departure at 23h15 from the La Défense. There will be two stops in Lyon, one at the gare de Vaise at 5h15 and the second at the gare La Part-Dieu at 5h50. On the trip back from there the bus will arrive at La Défense at 6h45 and will leave from gare La Part-Dieu at 23h59 , and the gare de Vaise at 00H35. Of course check the times as from now to then they may change. More here: https://www.flixbus.com/

As already mentioned in my previous post, the Villages Nature, has started construction, due to finish by June 30 2017. This is the entertainement activities park done by Pierre & Vacances(Center Parcs) ,and Euro Disney at Villeneuve-le-Comte, a few kilometers south of Disneyland Paris. The park should open to the public by mid August 2017. It consists of a park divided into five themes, such as Aqualagon, Ferme BelleVie, Forêt des légendes, Jardins extraordinaires ,and the Promenade du lac. More in French here: http://www.centerparcs.fr/fr-fr/villages-nature_ms

Another update coming from the Domaine de Méréville. About 50 guided visits are planned this year. To start , they are limited to the picturesque garden ,one of the last examples in Europe of a Anglo-Chinese passages park as we would have seen them in the 18C. There is a castle where lived the Marquis Jean-Joseph de Laborde,but still not ready to welcome visitors. However, the almost 400 hectares of park are done. You can ask update if passing by to visit it, worth the detour at tourist office or office de tourisme d’Étampes, tel +33 (0) 1.69.92.69.00 or email: tourisme@caese.fr. The next dates available for the guided tours are April 22, 23, 29 , 30, and May 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, and 28. More here: http://www.etampois-sudessonne.fr/fr/evenements

And more info in French on the Domaine from the dept tourist office of the Essonne ,dept 91.

For it’s 70th anniversary the Festival de Cannes,has played with the cards on the selection of films. It is expected that Michael Haneke will have his 3rd palme d’or, that will be historical. However ,even if the idea is to bring the lesser known artists to the Festival, you can’t escape to think folks like Sofia Coppola, Jacques Doillon, François Ozon or Michel Hazanavicius are not your type of unknown artists as such. The rest that were kept for the competition are indeed less known and with great projects such as Naomi Kawase, Yorgos Lanthimos, Lynne Ramsay, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Hong Sangsoo, Todd Haynes, Noah Baumbach, and Fatih Akin. More info here: http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/
The house of Louis Vuitton continues it’s incursion into the world of Arts. Associating with the plastic artist Jeff Koons to reveal the collection where the master word is transmission. The American artist will inspire here by the « Gazing Ball » a series of reproduce works of arts by the great masters,and to post on the great bags and small leather goods of the Louis Vuitton. The works that will appear are such as « La Joconde »(mona lisa) of Léonard de Vinci, the « La chasse au tigre » by Rubens, the « La Gimblette » by Fragonard, the « Champ de blé avec cyprès » by Van Gogh and as well the « Mars, Vénus et Cupidon » of Titien. The famous « Rabbit » of Jeff Koons will ,also be there in accessories. The artist even played with the famous monogram letter of Louis Vuitton by signing the works as « J.K. ». All ready to become collectors items and shown from April 28. More here: http://fr.louisvuitton.com/fra-fr/histoires/masterscampaign#section-masters
We have great cold cuts here , all over the country, and Paris is central; you can have a wonderful saussages too like from black pigs of Bigorre done by Pierre Matayron,;just the meat, pepper, and dry as wanted for 12€ Boucherie Terroirs d’Avenir : 6, rue du Nil, 2eme. Tél. +33 (0) 1 85 09 84 48. More info here, the real thing of my belle France: http://www.pierre-matayron.fr/fr/points-de-vente

Another is known for his wonderful hams, with a great taste at 9,45€; this is at Lastre Sans Apostrophe : 188, rue de Grenelle, 7eme. Tél. +33 (0) 1 40 60 70 27.no webpage but worth a detour You will find it near the école militaire.

And get on with steakhouses rare but some good ones here too. One of them is the Greffeuille ,120 rue Saint Denis, metro Etienne Marcel line 4 as closest. If you like the sausages such as the Andouillette ,lamb from the Aveyron, serving the great chefs of France with quality meats and good tasting on site in a butcher shop. Here is their store in Paris, http://www.allaiton.com/boutique/content/15-la-boutique-greffeuille-aveyron-a-paris

Another one is Clover Grill, 6 rue Bailleul, nearest metro line 1 Louvre – Rivoli. The steak here is king with the famous Entrecôte beef black from the Baltic , aged in oak with the aromas of whisky, or try the undercut of beef from Kansas,USA, tender to please the most of the globetrotters or the amateurs of the ancient sauces. More here: http://www.clover-grill.com/

Finally , see the Café des Abattoirs, 10 rue Gomboust , metro pyramides lines 7 or 14 as closest. The last one of the Rostang family, setup in a crowded resto with tables very close to each others, again the entrecôte, come to be the king. The best beef coming from the Breton Côtes-d’Armor, dept 22 of Nantes or Armoriques races of 400 grams of beef at least. More info here: http://www.cafedesabattoirs.com/

The next exposition at the musée Ludique that is at 34 quai d’Austerlitz in the 13eme of Paris will be dedicated to the super heroes of DC Comics. The expo will be until September 10 2017 and it’s entitled L’art de DC -L’aube des super héros. You will find about 250 originals models created by Bob Kane, Frank Miller or Alex Ross. More than 300 works recherché for the cinema and costumes and accessories from films. You will see the original costume for Superman worned by Christopher Reeves and the series Wonder Woman done by Lynda Carter, Batman from 1989 of the Joker, and accessories from the batman vault. the visitors to the exposition will recreate the history of their super heros from the 1930’s to our days. More info here: http://artludique.com/index2.html

The high gastronomy is not just for the restaurants but, also ,in hotels of Paris and France. The hotels deluxe with their codes sought of by Auguste Escoffier, the genius that opened in the end of the 19C the Ritz on the place Vendome and Savoy of London. Now we have Christian Le Squer to continue the legacy. At the Au Cinq, the restaurant in the Four Seasons Hôtel George V, he show you the traditions of the trade. M. Le Squer has reinvented the gratinée à l’oignon. Instead of serving it liquefy in a deep plate he presented it solid on a pure white dish with small caramels onions around it. It is served with a Madeira 1986 Verdelho d’Oliveiras. You can indulged at the Le Cinq.Four Seasons Hotel George V: 31, avenue George-V, 8eme. Tél. +33 (0) 1 49 52 70 10. Of course be prepare to pay dearly but the very top of French cuisine. More here: http://www.fourseasons.com/paris/dining/restaurants/le_cinq/

And on the continuing elimination of the auto from Paris, the mayor Hidalgo keeps bringing more bicycle lanes to Paris. This time is the section from Nation to République . This is the future lane that will be created along boulevard Voltaire. The work will be for 3 kms and will have the day before 2020. IN the plan there is work to do for 700 kms of bicycle lanes in all Paris. Several publication such as Le Parisien. and see the photo from Le Parisien newspaper showing losing as much as 90 hours in traffic jams in the Paris area;which couple with the pedestrian ideas cutting off traffic into Paris on the voie Georges Pompidou is just creating more traffic havocs.

You have the exposition of “De Zurbaran à Rothko – Collection Alicia Koplowitz – Grupo Omega Capital“; Until July 10 2017. the collection from the Spanish business women Alicia Koplowitz to be seen in the musée Jacquemart-André. There is nice works of arts here such as the “the Virgins” of Zurbarán , and from Luis de Morales,a portrait of the 16C of Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, but, also, of Goya, Picasso, and Toulouse-Lautrec. You can see as well masters such as De Kooning, Rothko, Lucian Freud, Louise Bourgeois, and Miquel Barceló. A very nice presentation in a wonderful place. More here: http://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com/en/node/2050

Great libraries in Paris, some of them down right historical. However, many not as well known and just as historical and nice. One of my favorites is the La librairie du cinéma du Panthéon ,15 rue Victor-Cousin, metro line 10 or RER A Luxembourg. Taken the works from the library Ciné Reflet and under the patronage of the Thé des Ecrivans, you come to a cine club library open since 2013. You have all novels, travel , youth books here. An oasis of calm and knowledge in Paris. More info in French here: http://cinelitterature.fr/

And last, pay tribute to a great one of Paris and the world, Colette. Actresse, dancer, mimic, romancier, newspaperwomen (in 1914-18 WWI) , creator of a cosmetic line, the leading figure of women avant garde with a strong connection to nature. The first women president of the Académie Goncourt. Today, her maternal home reborn with her youthful days; open to the public since 2016 at the rue Colette (before rue de l’Hospice). It is done loyal to the writing of the actor with bourgeois decoration and the status of a rich family whose members were musicians or music lovers; Colette played the piano, and mom went to the Opéra. The house or La Maison de Colette, 10, rue Colette, Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye ; guided visits of the house and gardens from Wednesdays to Sundays from 10h-19h and Fridays to Sundays from 10h-17h ; from November 1st to March 30th. Reservation is recommended at tel +33 (0) 3 86 45 66 20. admission is 9€ adults open every day from 10h to 18h . IN the castle of the town ; small Library. you can go by car in about 1h30 from Paris . By train from gare de Bercy, to Joigny or Auxerre. More info on the house here: http://maisondecolette.fr/ and on the museum Inside castle here: http://www.musee-colette.com/index.php?id=110